Azalea plant

ABSTRACT

An azalea plant having medium-sized, bright-red hose-in-hose flowers in clusters of three to five on terminal ends of branches. The plant branches well, is compact, and is extremely winter-hardy in the Washington, D.C. area. The flowers on a given plant come into bloom simultaneously and force well when buds are set outdoors. The plant naturally blooms about April 27th in Washington, D.C.

SUMMARY

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of azaleaplant produced as a result of deliberate hybridization. The plant's seedparent is a pink Gumpo Satsuki and its pollen parent is Hexe. In thisrespect, I froze pollen from Hexe which blooms about May 1st in theWashington, D.C. area and crossed it onto the pink gumpo which bloomsabout June 25th. My purpose was to obtain a brilliant red,very-late-blooming dwarf azalea.

The plant is named "DJO" and was identified by me as hybrid number77-55.

My "DJO" is not the late-bloomer I was seeking, but its brightness ofcolor and profusion of blooms at an early age distinguished it fromknown varieties. Additionally, the plant exhibits essentiallyspontaneous bloom. That is, a plant which appears to contain only budson one day is essentially all in bloom on the next no matter whether thebranches be located high or low on the plant. In this manner, the "DJO"sharply distinguishes from its pollen parent which tends to have bloomswhich open over a period of about ten days or so.

The above-described cross resulted in about 300 seedlings. Some werekept indoors under lights during their first winter. Others were kept ina cold frame during severe winter weather. All were kept outside incontainers during the following winter when other plants were lost whichhad survived as many as 20 earlier Washington, D.C. winters. My "DJO",however, was among the survivors of the second winter; bloomed that yearon April 27th; and, exhibited no leaf-tip burning.

In addition to my "DJO's" above-described characteristics, the flowershold their color evenly as they open and until they dry up on the plantabout ten days later.

I proceeded to reproduce my "DJO" asexually by cuttings; and, thecharacteristics I noted in the original plant came true with succeedingpropagation and each plant which developed had the characteristics of myoriginal discovery.

I did not achieve my original objective of a late-blooming brilliantred, but my DJO has a unique combination of characteristics whichdistinguish it from other varieties of which I am aware--itscharacteristics being as follows:

(1) a bright red color

(2) a spontaneous bloomer

(3) a good forcing plant

(4) a dwarf tendency

(5) very winter-hardy in the Washington-D.C. area

(6) easily propagated

Some cuttings from my DJO were taken in July and others were taken inOctober after buds were set. Half of each group were grown indoors underlights and the other half were kept outside. The bud-set "DJO" cuttingsthat were brought indoors are so easily forced that the first bloomoccurred on December 15th, with all buds opening on the same day.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings show a typical view of the flowers and foliageof my new azalea variety. These are portrayed in color as fairly as canpossibly be obtained by this method of illustration.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DISCLOSURE

The following is a detailed description of my new "DJO" variety in whichthe terminology of the colors corresponds to the Nickerson Color Fanpublished by Munsell Color Company, Inc. of Bethesda, Md. anddistributed by the American Horticultural Society of Mt. Vernon, Va.

PLANT

Type: Hardy; dwarfish; compact.

Habit: Initially upright then branching and spreading.

Rooting habit: Roots easily from cuttings taken either before or afterbud set.

Blooming habit: Tends to set buds evenly on terminal ends of brancheswith three-five hose-in-hose florets per terminal end. All buds open atalmost the same time.

Foliage: Simple leaves, in normal quantity, small to medium. New leavesform at about the time of flowering. The tops of the new leaves arecolor plate 7.5 Gy 5/7 moderate yellow green and age to a moderate olivegreen plate 7.5 Gy 4/4. Before dropping the tops turn to a plate 7.5 Gy3/2 greyish olive green. The bottoms of new leaves are plate 5 Gy 5/6moderate yellow green; and before dropping are plate 2.5 y 4/4 moderateolive brown.

Main stems: Grow to a plate 10 Yr 3/1 brownish grey.

New shoots: Begin at plate 5R 3/7 dark red mottled with hair-likeportions of plate 7.5 Gy 6/8 strong yellow green; and grow to plate 10Yr 4/4 moderate yellowish brown.

Buds: Buds form at plate 2.5 R 4/10 moderate red and open to a plate 2.5R 5/12 strong red.

FLOWERS

Size: Individual flowers average from about 3-4 centimeters in diameterand are terminally located on short stems.

Continuity: One season lasts for 12 days of petallage. The number ofpetals under normal conditions is usually 5 in each hose. The coloropens as noted above (2.5 R 5/12) and is essentially uniform down to thethroat of each hose. The color, however, changes slightly with age to aplate 10 RP 4/12 strong purplish red. The color at the base of eachthroat is a plate 10 RP 6/12 deep pink at both the inside and outside.The petals are only slightly ruffled and about 31/2 centimeters indiameter at their widest part and 3 centimeters in diameter at theirnarrowest part.

REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS

The stamens are usually five in number and about 13/4 centimeters longextending to about 11/2 centimeter below the top of each flower which isabout 31/2 cm in length so that the flower's overall dimensionalcharacteristics are about "square" (31/2 cm × 31/2 cm). At the base,each stamen is from chart 7.5 YR 9/4 pale orange yellow and a chart 10 R7/9 strong yellowish pink at the mid points.

The pistal is about 23/4 centimeters long and extends to within about1/2 inch of the top of its flower. At its tip the pistal is a chart 2.5R 4/10 moderate red with the color changing to chart 10 RP 4/12 strongpurple red toward its base.

I claim:
 1. A new and distinct variety of azalea plant substantially asherein illustrated and described and characterized particularly as tonovelty by the unique combination of a bright red color with spontaneousbloom wherein most buds progress to bloom essentially simultaneouslyparticularly as compared with its pollen parent "hexe"; verywinter-hardy in the Washington, D.C. area without tip-burning of leaves;moderately compact and dwarfish with 3 to 5 hose-in-hose florets makingup a firm truss on the terminal portions of short stems; and, furthercharacterized in that the plant forces and roots well from cuttingstaken either before or after bud set.